Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 66 Attack
At dawn, a hundred Vikings and an equal number of captives went to the forest to cut down trees. The branches were covered with a thin layer of snow. They wielded iron axes and chiseled at the tree trunks, their bodies steaming with hot white mist. The dull thud of the axes striking the oak trees startled the ravens into flight.

"The tree has fallen!"

With a loud warning, oak trees were felled one by one. The Vikings, wielding axes and saws, cleared away the obstructing branches and together dragged the logs to the sled. Suddenly, the hum of bowstrings vibrating echoed through the forest.

The next moment, an arrow pierced the back of a young man, who collapsed onto a pile of logs beside the sled, his blood scalding holes in the snow-covered ground.

"Enemy attack!"

Countless arrows rained down like hail, pinning the surviving Vikings to the ground behind their fortifications. Minutes later, a large contingent of Mercian soldiers emerged from the depths of the forest. Outnumbered and outgunned, the logging team was forced to retreat.

In the northwest camp, two nobles, having finished breakfast, were playing chess in their warm and comfortable room. Ulf, clutching a chess piece, was deep in thought when, upon hearing of the attack on the logging camp, he "accidentally" scrambled the chessboard in his panic.

"These people are truly hateful. Why don't they go after others instead of bothering us?" Ulf, draped in a black cloak, climbed the watchtower on the edge of the village, cursing as he looked out. Dozens of Vikings emerged from the northern woods, running wildly across the silent, desolate snowfield.

Before long, a large number of militiamen equipped with square shields, spears and pitchforks emerged from the edge of the woods, roughly estimated to be seven or eight hundred.

"How to do?"

Standing nearby, Vig responded, "What else can we do? It's better to deal with them in the wild than to let these militiamen into Tamworth."

After a brief discussion, Vig led four hundred men to intercept them, including all sixty armored soldiers, while Ulf commanded the remaining two hundred men to defend the camp.

While his colleagues were gathering their troops, Ulf ordered his men to set off two smoke signals in an open area to request reinforcements from the camp in the east of the city.

"Hopefully it's not too late."

Ulf muttered to himself as he watched Vig head towards the Mercian army, which outnumbered him twice as many.

With the distance reduced to two hundred paces, Vig drew his longsword and signaled his troops to form a shield wall centered on him, slowly advancing towards the enemy.

After walking several dozen steps, a rapid horn sounded behind him. Vig turned around and saw Ulf waving his arms wildly on the watchtower, pointing in the direction of Tamworth.

At that moment, the north gate of Tamworth slowly opened, and Mercian soldiers equipped with swords and shields walked out of the city and lined up in formation at the urging of their officers.

"My lord, what should we do?" The shield guards on both sides asked one after another, but Vig still did not back down.

"Never mind what's behind us. Our immediate task is to keep these Mercians at bay and prevent them from sneaking into Tamworth. If all goes as expected, His Majesty has already received word that reinforcements are on their way."

The shield wall continued to advance, closing the distance to seventy paces, and enemy archers began to volley arrows. Vig remained inside the shield wall, moving slowly, the muffled thuds of arrows striking the shield surface echoing overhead, like a flock of woodpeckers pecking at a tree trunk.

Fifty steps.

Thirty steps. Ten steps.

On the eve of engagement, the ground trembled. The Vikings at the edge of the shield wall looked eastward towards the sound and saw a hundred-man cavalry charging menacingly towards them, the lead rider carrying Ragnar's royal banner. Not far behind the cavalry, a large number of light infantry trotted towards the battlefield.

"Our cavalry has arrived!"

The news spread quickly throughout the entire Shield Wall. Noticing the sudden surge in morale, Vig no longer hesitated. "Inn!" he called out Odin's name and resolutely commanded the Shield Wall to charge towards the Mercian reinforcements, who outnumbered them twice as many.

The two armies clashed, and screams filled the air. A few minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Gunnar's cavalry arrived at the flank and rear of Mercia's reinforcements. The heavy bodies of the warhorses crashed into the crowd, instantly knocking down a large number of unsuspecting enemies. Driven by their spurs, the warhorses neighed and squeezed deeper into the crowd until their last bit of momentum was exhausted.

On horseback, the riders, taking advantage of their height, swung their iron swords, hacking at the enemies on their left and right flanks. Faced with these seemingly crazed riders, the left flank of the Mercian reinforcements collapsed, and the resulting chain reaction led to the entire force's rout. They abandoned their weapons and wounded comrades, retreating back into the depths of the forest along the same route.

"Don't chase! Everyone turn around!"

Having driven off the reinforcements, Vig signaled the shield wall to turn south, facing Tamworth. The five hundred Mercian warriors who had left the city were less than two hundred paces away. Witnessing the defeat of the reinforcements, they stood frozen, unsure whether to send them to the rescue or retreat back into the city.

Half a minute later, horns sounded from the walls of Tamworth, jolting the Mercian army out of their daze. They retreated into the city gates as fast as they could. Vig led his men in pursuit, but he was too late. He failed to catch up with the enemy force and had over a dozen soldiers shot down by archers on the walls. Forced to retreat, he ordered his troops to withdraw.

For the rest of the day, Vig led his troops deep into the forest to mop up any remaining stragglers, returning to camp at sunset.

"Fortunately, Ragnar acted decisively and sent out cavalry, and although they were only some inexperienced riders, they were enough to inflict a devastating blow on the militia."

Currently, the entire army has only one cavalry unit of about 100 men, which belongs to the palace guard.

Based on their experience on the Eastern European steppes, the three commanders Gunnar, Nils, and Om realized the importance of iron stirrups. As a result, all cavalrymen were equipped with stirrups, making them a level above Anglo-Saxon riders in terms of combat effectiveness.

Unfortunately, British horses are generally short in stature and are mainly used for agriculture and transportation, resulting in a severe lack of explosive power, which greatly reduces the impact of cavalry charges.

In addition, the cavalry lacked qualified riding instructors. During daytime battles, Vig observed that more than half of the riders dismounted after engaging the enemy and fought on foot, essentially treating themselves as mounted infantry.

"The cavalry's advantage is simply too great. After the war, we must find a way to hire instructors, purchase fine horses from Europe, and form a dedicated shock cavalry force!"

In fact, Vig had long had the idea of ​​forming a cavalry, and last year he even consulted wool merchants about prices and learned that the price of a West Frankish warhorse was more than two pounds of silver.

Even more critically, several wool merchants refused Vig's request because the risks of selling warhorses to heretical barbarians were far too great. Only one fearless merchant agreed to help, but at an exorbitant price that Vig could not afford:

Each mare costs five pounds of silver, while a top-quality stallion costs ten pounds!
Undoubtedly, this price was beyond Vig's means, and unless he captured enough spoils in the upcoming war, his plan to build a cavalry would have to be delayed for several more years.

(End of this chapter)